Just Friends?

Tomoya felt awkward; awkward and uncomfortable and it was all his mother's fault. Ever since he'd asked Elsa to go to the Youkai Academy Ball with him, on his mother's advice (read insistence) and against his own better judgement, he'd been feeling awkward and uncomfortable around her. The problem wasn't that they were going to the ball together, that part was fine, the part he was having trouble with was that she had misunderstood him while asking and had thought he'd meant as a date.

He'd been nervous and he'd fumbled his way through asking her and she had thought he was asking her on a date. He hadn't meant it that way at all. He'd meant that they should go together as friends but she'd misunderstood and he'd had no idea how to correct her without hurting her feelings.

His mother had been singularly unhelpful as well.

When Tomoya had told his mother what had happened, and asked for advice on correcting it, his mom had just laughed at him. When she had stopped laughing she still hadn't been any help. Tomoya could remember his mother's advice on how to deliver the news vividly.

"Tell her the truth, then run as fast as you can for as long as you can." And delivered with a grin big enough to nearly crack her face in half.

His mother's smiling face seemed to mock him.

So Tomoya was stuck and he was now going on a date with a girl that he only thought of as a friend and there was nothing he could do about it. He really had considered telling her the truth at first, but that was until the morning after his botched request. The three of them had gone down to the cafeteria for breakfast together, as they always did, and no sooner had they had all met up outside the dorms and started to walk next to his friends than he felt a warm little hand tentatively take hold of his own.

It was not the first time that Elsa had held his hand, far from it, but on all other occasions they were running for their lives or otherwise involved in something scary or dangerous, or one of his pranks. In those cases she didn't hold his hand as much as she grabbed it, so the surprise of this tentative hold was twofold. First he was surprised that she'd done it at all when they were in no immediate danger and second that she'd done it so tentatively, with nothing like her usual assurance.

Tomoya had looked down at their joined hands in surprise for a second, before looking up at her. He had nearly dropped her hand and asked her what she was doing but one glance at her face stopped him. She looked so shy and embarrassed, so unsure of herself, and he couldn't bring himself to say something that he knew would make her feel bad. Her face was a brilliant shade of scarlet as she tried to hide behind her hair while still trying to gauge his reaction by peering at him through the tresses. Tomoya saw all of this in a moment, his mouth snapped shut and instead of taking his hand away he smiled at her instead and squeezed her hand.

He had just been trying to make her feel better, he'd explained to Adell and Kieth later, she thought he'd asked her to be his date to the ball and she didn't realize he'd meant just as friends. Adell and Kieth thought the whole situation was hilarious and started making kissy faces at Tomoya whenever Elsa's back was turned. Tomoya wasn't too surprised at this from Adell, but he was surprised that Kieth didn't seem the least bit upset and it was just one more reason for Tomoya to feel uncomfortable. Prior to this all taking place Tomoya had thought Kieth was interested in Elsa. He'd even checked with his friend that it was OK for him to ask her to go with him, as friends, before he'd asked and Kieth's response had been surprisingly unconcerned.

So he and Elsa had been holding hands to and from all of their classes for the past fortnight, which was made even more awkward and uncomfortable by Adell, Kieth and, to a lesser extent, the rest of their friends and classmates constant teasing.

Now, as he stood waiting for Elsa in the entrance hall of the girl's dorms, he felt even more uncomfortable than he'd been feeling for the past two weeks (and that was saying something). His mind whirled with possibilities of different things that could go wrong, the most prominent being that she would try to kiss him or expect him to kiss her. Tomoya didn't think he could do it, and if he couldn't she would want to know why, and he would have to tell her he only liked her as a friend, and then she would be embarrassed, and she would think he'd led her on, and she would probably hate him.

Tomoya wasn't just uncomfortable anymore, he was terrified.

He might not want Elsa as his girlfriend but he really liked having her as a friend and he was worried that the longer he maintained this charade the more likely she would be to never speak to him again. He was working himself into a real sweat thinking about it when he heard a noise on the staircase behind him and he turned to see Elsa floating towards him in a magenta dress.

She looked like an angel.

In the figurative sense, not the literal sense. The only angel he knew was Keith, and imagining Kieth in a dress, while hilarious, would give him nightmares in this situation.

Tomoya felt his mouth drop open as he stared at her but he couldn't help it, she looked amazing. The thought suddenly fluttered through his mind that he might not have any trouble kissing her after all, if that was what she wanted. He hoped that was what she wanted. It was that thought that caused him to snap his mouth shut finally, and gulp. He did hope that she wanted him to kiss her and that thought was enough to make him feel more awkward, more uncomfortable and definitely more terrified than anything else that had happened in the past fortnight.

Elsa descended the final step toward him and as she did his hand rose toward her, seemingly of its own volition. She took his hand with a smile and he tucked it into the crook of his elbow before leading her towards the door. He hadn't said a word yet and it suddenly occurred to him that he should say something, but when he began to speak his words failed him.

"Really pretty," he finished finally feeling stupid. 'You fucking moron...' There were so many better words he could have used. Internally he berated himself for his poor word choice and general stupidity, but then he saw Elsa's smile and his internal voice was silenced.

"Thank you, Tomoya," her smile was still shy, but it was beautiful and increased her overall perfection beyond words. Tomoya was struck dumb, thankfully he hadn't lost control of his limbs yet and he continued to guide her faultlessly towards the event hall.

She looked away from him then glanced back from under her lashes. How had he never noticed how long her lashes were, or how beautiful the soft blue of her eyes? A blush rose across her cheeks as their eyes met again.

Tomoya barely noticed the crowd which gathered around them in the event hall, and he was (for the first time ever) completely unaware of the multitude of people staring at him as he led Elsa to their seats. Thankfully his tongue started to work again over dinner and he was able to talk and joke with her almost the same as he normally would. Her beauty hadn't dimmed at all, if anything it had increased now that it was surrounded by the beauty of the hall, but he somehow found that being in hall and eating had put him at ease.

When the dancing started it was not terrifying at all, in fact Tomoya found that he enjoyed it so much that he kept Elsa on the dance floor long after the other staff and students had joined them there. Song after song went by and still they danced, neither of them speaking a word, until at last Tomoya realised that he was feeling tired and worried that Elsa would be as well.

"Do you want to find somewhere to sit?" He asked her at last, his voice was low as he tried not to break the spell that had swirled around them for the past hour as they danced.

Elsa nodded and Tomoya led the way into the gardens.

They found a low stone bench surrounded on three sides by rose bushes and sat down. He still held her hand in his and as they sat there in the cool night air, with the stars stretching to eternity before them and the smell of roses surrounding them, he absently stroked the back of her hand and marvelled at the softness of her skin.

He wanted nothing more at that moment than to kiss her, but he had no idea how to begin. He looked over at her and she smiled at him, he found himself being irresistibly drawn in to her but then she spoke and her words snapped him from the moment with all the delicacy of a bucket of cold water.

"I thought, during the past fortnight, that you didn't actually want me as a proper date for tonight but just as friends. You seemed so surprised that first morning when I held your hand, but then you didn't ever say anything and ... I wasn't sure." she smiled at him, "I'm still not really. Tomoya, what did you want when you asked me to come with you tonight?"

Tomoya couldn't speak, he should have known that she'd notice his behavior over the past two weeks. But what could he possibly say now that wouldn't spoil everything? He didn't want to lie to her but telling her the truth seemed like the stupidest thing he could possibly do. Really, he had no choice, she was his friend and she deserved honesty.

He screwed up all of his courage and told her the truth, "When I asked you," he began, "I was asking you to go with me as a friend," Elsa looked mortified and moved to stand up, but Tomoya stopped her, holding her hand tight.

"Please let me finish?" his tone was calm but his eyes were begging.

Their eyes met and she paused then, without saying a word, she sat back down.

"When you held my hand that next morning, I was surprised, but..." Tomoya trailed off and shrugged, "I didn't mind and you looked so shy and I couldn't bring myself to tell you that you'd misunderstood."

Elsa looked away and Tomoya heard her sniffle, "is that all you wanted to say?" she asked, a definite sob in her voice, "Can I go now?"

Tomoya still held her hand and now he began to stroke it, Elsa looked down and Tomoya could see surprise on her face.

"That's not all I wanted to say."

She looked over at him, her mouth forming a silent O.

He smiled at her then, it was so rare that she was without words.

"When I told you earlier that you looked pretty tonight, I lied. You look beautiful and I'm honoured that you are my date. When I saw you tonight I was glad that you'd misunderstood me. I was glad that you thought this was a proper date, cause at that moment I really wanted it to be... I still want it to be. So, if you can forgive me for being an idiot, I'd really like it if this was a date..."

His heart pounded in his chest while he waited for her response and when it came, in the form a smile spreading slowly over her face, the beat of his heart only increased its pace.

"I think I'd like it if this was a date too."

Tomoya felt an answering smile spread over his own face and the two teens sat smiling at each other for a second until Tomoya suddenly remembered his intention from earlier. Now seemed like the perfect moment to carry out his plan, the only problem being that he'd never actually made a plan.

He took a deep breath, "Elsa, since we're being honest, can I ask you something?"

She nodded, still smiling, "Of course you can, Tomoya."

"Would you mind if I kissed you?"

"I wouldn't mind," she replied, in a voice little more than a breathy whisper.

He leaned forward then and their lips touched for the first time. It was soft and sweet and Tomoya was lost... but, thankfully, Elsa was there to find him.

~Fin..... sorta

The next day, Atsuko smiled smugly as Rebecca handed over a single dollar. "I swear, you cheated..." At this, Atsuko chuckled.

"Hardly. The bet was on who would make the first move. Since Tomoya was being an idiot and asked with the intent of them going as friends, me insisting he ask her has no bearing on this." Rebecca was unconvinced.

"Knowing how sneaky you are, I wouldn't be surprised if you knew this would happen. Push Tomoya to ask, knowing there would be a misunderstanding, and knowing that Tomoya would, upon actually seeing her in a dress and dancing with her, actually want it to be a date. Then when they talked about it, you knew Elsa would be thrown off by Tomoya's confession of the misunderstanding, and thus Tomoya would be in position to make the first move." Atsuko just raised a brow.

"Indeed. Though, you admit you cheated, so you forfeit the bet. My dollar please."

"Sorry, can't." At this, Rebecca raised a brow of her own. "Already spent it." Rebecca then heard the whirring, and noticed for the first time that Atsuko was standing in front of a vending machine. The woman bent and picked up her newly purchased candy bar, grinning as she unwrapped it. "Sorry, Becca." Atsuko's grin fell, however, as Rebecca suddenly snatched the candy bar, and promptly ate it.

"Sorry, Atsuko."

Tomoya and Elsa, walking hand in hand to their next class, were highly confused when they saw an irate Atsuko chasing a laughing Rebecca across the courtyard. They shared a look, then shrugged.

~Fin.... for real.

_________________"There is no such thing as 'Coincidence'. Only 'Inevitability'." ~ Yuuko Ichihara